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Japanese for Mega
Lesson 1: Writing Hiragana and Katakana: AIUEO Before you learn anything else, I think it is imperative that you know how to write in Japanese. The Japanese have 3 writing systems: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Before you learn anything else Japanese related, you need to know all of the Hiragana and Katakana characters. (There are literally 1000s of kanji, so, we're going to ignore those. >_>) Hiragana and Katakana both have the same 46 characters and each of those characters represent a sound. Both H&K represent the same sounds, but they are written in different ways and serve different purposes. Hiragana (and Kanji) is for writing words native to Japan. Katakana is for writing foreign words and names. For example, your name or the word "America" would be written in katakana. But a Japanese person's name or the word "Japan" would be written in Hiragana. Is what I'm trying to say making any sense? O_o If so, let's get down to learning Hiragana and Katakana! :D You're just learning for fun, so you can take as much time as you need, but I recommend learning 5 Hiragana characters and 5 Katakana characters a week. If you can learn more, that would be great, but it's whatever you have the time to do. The first 5 characters you should learn are the vowels: A-I-U-E-O. Go to this site and look at the Hiragana and Katakana charts. If you click on the character you are trying to learn, it will tell you how to pronounce the character and, very importantly, the stroke order for the character. My teacher tells me that it's very important that you actually know the stroke order for the characters, but I've managed to get by just fine without it, but I do think it is good to know. Because, apparently, knowing the proper stroke order will give you good balance when writing the characters. (And if you ever decide to learn Kanji, stroke order will be your best friend if you want the characters to look right. :/) Random note: when you first start learning the characters, you'll probably like Katakana a lot more since it's easier to learn, but you use Hiragana a lot more often. Your first task is to learn 10 characters: A I U E O in Hiragana and in Katakana. Be sure to know the stroke order and how each character sounds because the English and Japanese pronunciations are totally different. Also, you should probably write these characters over and over and over again so you don't forget them. Any questions? Post below. Hiragana and Katakana: KA-KI-KU-KE-KO Okay, now that you have the vowels down pack, we can move on. In the Japanese "alphabet" (and I'm only using the term alphabet so you can relate to it), there are no consonants alone. Consonants are always paired with one of the vowel sounds. There is one semi-exception to this rule, but we'll discuss that later. The first pairings that you learn after the vowels is the K pairings. Note: I made that name up myself, lol. The K pairings are Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, and Ko. If you know how to pronounce the vowels, then you should know exactly how to pronounce these characters as well. This week, you are going to learn how to write these five sounds in both Hiragana and Katakana. Hiragana Ku is one of my favorite characters simply because of how easy it is to write. :D Just like last week, you should be sure you know the stroke order and how each character is pronounced. At the end of this week, I'd like a picture of your progress like last week. But I'd also like you to post a sound recording of you pronouncing last weeks characters and this weeks characters, so I can be sure you are pronouncing them correctly. Any questions? Post below! がんばって！ Hiragana and Katakana: SA-SHI-SU-SE-SO The pairings that you learn after the K pairings are the S pairings. The S pairings are Sa, Shi (not Si), Su, Se, and So. This week, you are going to learn how to write these five sounds in both Hiragana and Katakana. Hiragana Shi is another favorite character of mine. Hiragana Su and So, however, are the bane of my existence. >_> Even worse than them are Katakana Shi and Katakana So! It may not seem bad now, but just wait until you see Katakana Tsu and N and you'll understand why I hate those characters. Just like last week, you should be sure you know the stroke order and how each character is pronounced. At the end of this week, I'd like a picture of your progress like last week. There won't be any required recordings, but your first test will be at the end of the week! Study hard! I absolutely will not tolerate failure. ಠ_ಠ Any questions? Post below! がんばって！ Hiragana and Katakana: TA-CHI-TSU-TE-TO The pairings that you learn after the S pairings are the T pairings. The T pairings are Ta, Chi (not Ti), Tsu (not Tu you dirty Mexican! ^_^), Te, and To. This week, you are going to learn how to write these five sounds in both Hiragana and Katakana. Hiragana Tsu is another personal favorite of mine because it's easy. Katakana Tsu is absolutely terrible. It's hard to differentiate between it and Katakana Shi. Just like last week, you should be sure you know the stroke order and how each character is pronounced. At the end of this week, I'd like a picture of your progress like last week. You did great on your test so keep up the good work! I'd like a recording of last weeks characters and this weeks characters. Any questions? Post below! がんばって！ Hiragana and Katakana: NA-NI-NU-NE-NO The pairings that you learn after the T pairings are the N pairings. The N pairings are Na, Ni, Nu, Ne, and No. This week, you are going to learn how to write these five sounds in both Hiragana and Katakana. Hiragana Nu is annoying and until you are used to writing it, you'll despise it. Just like last week, you should be sure you know the stroke order and how each character is pronounced. At the end of this week, I'd like a picture of your progress on all the characters you've learned so far. Consider this a quiz. I want to see how good your Japanese handwriting is. I'd also like a recording of the last three lessons. Any questions? Post below! がんばって！ Hiragana and Katakana: HA-HI-FU-HE-HO The pairings that you learn after the N pairings are the H pairings. The H pairings are Ha, Hi, Fu (Not Hu), He, and Ho. This week, you are going to learn how to write these five sounds in both Hiragana and Katakana. He will be your most favoritest (yes, I know this is not a word) character in the world! Because the hiragana writing and katakana writing are the exact same! It's absolutely lovely, lol. Just like last week, you should be sure you know the stroke order and how each character is pronounced. At the end of this week, I'd like a picture of your progress on just the characters you've learned this week. Any questions? Post below! がんばって！